Description
When CONFIG_THREAD_STACK_MEM_MAPPED is enabled, each thread stack is mapped into the kernel virtual address space with a guard page on either side, and the mapping is released during abort cleanup. k_thread_abort_cleanup() in kernel/thread.c has two paths: a deferred one for self-abort, which stashes the mapping in thread_cleanup_stack_addr/thread_cleanup_stack_sz, and an immediate one for a thread aborted by some other thread. The immediate path called do_thread_cleanup(), which ignored its thread argument and only ever unmapped the stashed address — a value populated exclusively by the self-abort path. The mapped stack of a thread aborted by another thread was therefore never unmapped.
Every k_thread_abort() of a non-current thread leaks the thread's stack region plus its two guard pages from the kernel virtual address space. Threads that end by returning from their entry function take the working self-abort path, so the leak is specific to explicit cancellation — k_thread_abort(), pthread_cancel(), osThreadTerminate(), or the kernel thread kill shell command. Both k_thread_create() and k_thread_abort() are system calls, so with CONFIG_USERSPACE an unprivileged user-mode thread that has been granted a thread object and a user-capable stack object can drive the leak from user mode, consuming a kernel-side resource it cannot otherwise touch.
With CONFIG_KERNEL_VM_SIZE defaulting to 8 MB, a few hundred create/abort cycles exhaust the runtime mapping region. k_mem_map_phys_guard() then returns NULL, and map_thread_stack() guards that only with __ASSERT_NO_MSG(), which is compiled out of production builds; thread creation proceeds to write through a NULL-derived stack base and faults in kernel mode. The impact is a persistent denial of service — a kernel fatal error requiring a reboot — with no memory disclosure or corruption, and it is limited to configurations where memory-mapped thread stacks are enabled (x86 targets with X86_MMU and demand paging disabled, where the option is implied by default).
Every k_thread_abort() of a non-current thread leaks the thread's stack region plus its two guard pages from the kernel virtual address space. Threads that end by returning from their entry function take the working self-abort path, so the leak is specific to explicit cancellation — k_thread_abort(), pthread_cancel(), osThreadTerminate(), or the kernel thread kill shell command. Both k_thread_create() and k_thread_abort() are system calls, so with CONFIG_USERSPACE an unprivileged user-mode thread that has been granted a thread object and a user-capable stack object can drive the leak from user mode, consuming a kernel-side resource it cannot otherwise touch.
With CONFIG_KERNEL_VM_SIZE defaulting to 8 MB, a few hundred create/abort cycles exhaust the runtime mapping region. k_mem_map_phys_guard() then returns NULL, and map_thread_stack() guards that only with __ASSERT_NO_MSG(), which is compiled out of production builds; thread creation proceeds to write through a NULL-derived stack base and faults in kernel mode. The impact is a persistent denial of service — a kernel fatal error requiring a reboot — with no memory disclosure or corruption, and it is limited to configurations where memory-mapped thread stacks are enabled (x86 targets with X86_MMU and demand paging disabled, where the option is implied by default).
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zephyrproject | zephyr | unaffected |
|
No data.
No data.
No data available yet.
Remediation
No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Tracking
Sign in to view the affected projects.
Advisories
No advisories yet.
References
History
Mon, 09 Nov 2026 22:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | When CONFIG_THREAD_STACK_MEM_MAPPED is enabled, each thread stack is mapped into the kernel virtual address space with a guard page on either side, and the mapping is released during abort cleanup. k_thread_abort_cleanup() in kernel/thread.c has two paths: a deferred one for self-abort, which stashes the mapping in thread_cleanup_stack_addr/thread_cleanup_stack_sz, and an immediate one for a thread aborted by some other thread. The immediate path called do_thread_cleanup(), which ignored its thread argument and only ever unmapped the stashed address — a value populated exclusively by the self-abort path. The mapped stack of a thread aborted by another thread was therefore never unmapped. Every k_thread_abort() of a non-current thread leaks the thread's stack region plus its two guard pages from the kernel virtual address space. Threads that end by returning from their entry function take the working self-abort path, so the leak is specific to explicit cancellation — k_thread_abort(), pthread_cancel(), osThreadTerminate(), or the kernel thread kill shell command. Both k_thread_create() and k_thread_abort() are system calls, so with CONFIG_USERSPACE an unprivileged user-mode thread that has been granted a thread object and a user-capable stack object can drive the leak from user mode, consuming a kernel-side resource it cannot otherwise touch. With CONFIG_KERNEL_VM_SIZE defaulting to 8 MB, a few hundred create/abort cycles exhaust the runtime mapping region. k_mem_map_phys_guard() then returns NULL, and map_thread_stack() guards that only with __ASSERT_NO_MSG(), which is compiled out of production builds; thread creation proceeds to write through a NULL-derived stack base and faults in kernel mode. The impact is a persistent denial of service — a kernel fatal error requiring a reboot — with no memory disclosure or corruption, and it is limited to configurations where memory-mapped thread stacks are enabled (x86 targets with X86_MMU and demand paging disabled, where the option is implied by default). | |
| Title | Memory-mapped thread stack is never unmapped when a thread is aborted by another thread, exhausting kernel virtual address space | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-401 | |
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
|
Subscriptions
No data.
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: zephyr
Published:
Updated: 2026-11-09T22:04:01.652Z
Reserved: 2026-09-12T18:04:43.338Z
Link: CVE-2026-90589
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
No data.
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
-
CWE-401
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime